Mar
31

Cabinet approves contentious Bill to ban stag hunting

MARY MINIHAN

Wed, Mar 31, 2010

THE CABINET has approved the Bill to ban stag hunting, as some rural Fianna Fáil backbenchers claimed Green leader John Gormley “snubbed” their concerns about proposed dog-breeding and planning legislation.

Mr Gormley’s spokesman said the ban, enshrined in the Wildlife Amendment Bill 2010 which will make hunting deer with a pack of hounds an offence, was “as much on the grounds of public safety as it is on the grounds of animal welfare”.

A meeting between Mr Gormley and members of Fianna Fáil’s environmental policy group, scheduled for yesterday, did not take place and has been rescheduled for noon today.

Fianna Fáil representatives gathered in the party’s rooms in the afternoon hoping to speak to Mr Gormley about the Green-sponsored Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009 and the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009, which have created difficulties within the Coalition.

Some knew beforehand that Mr Gormley would not attend, while others found out when they arrived at the meeting.

Mr Gormley’s spokesman said the Minister wanted two officials to be in attendance, but did not believe it was correct to bring them to the Fianna Fáil party rooms.

Mr Gormley is understood to have offered to meet a small Fianna Fáil delegation in his own office but this offer was refused.

His spokesman said he had set time aside on one of the busiest days of the year, which was dominated by developments relating to the National Asset Management Agency. The rescheduled meeting will take place in a meeting room in Leinster House.

Carlow-Kilkenny TD Bobby Aylward chaired the meeting in the absence of Limerick West TD John Cregan.

His constituency colleagues MJ Nolan and John McGuinness also attended, along with Tipperary North TD Máire Hoctor, Tipperary South deputy Mattie McGrath, Cork North-Central’s Noel O’Flynn, Cork South-West TD Christy O’Sullivan, Brendan Kenneally of Waterford, Laois-Offaly’s Seán Fleming and, briefly, Senator John Carty from Co Mayo. Others sent apologies.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “I’m absolutely disappointed that he didn’t come to meet the parliamentary party grouping . . . he snubbed us in this way.”

Mr McGrath also expressed his disappointment. “We weren’t going to belittle ourselves by going down to him. . . He’s been in before and we treated him civilly.”

The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting is also scheduled for today at 2.30pm. However, Mr McGuinness is thought unlikely to get support for his call for Taoiseach Brian Cowen to step down.

© 2010 The Irish Times

Mar
29

http://irishtimes.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

SOME FIANNA Fáil TDs may not be prepared to vote for legislation to implement key Green Party measures in the Programme for Government, a backbencher has warned.

Carlow-Kilkenny TD Bobby Aylward said his support could not be relied on when it comes to votes in the Dáil on issues such as animal welfare, the Planning Bill or a ban on corporate donations.

“If it means there is going to be a break-up of the Coalition so be it. At this stage I am not going to be coerced into voting for another party’s agenda,” said Mr Aylward.

He said that, as a representative of a rural area, he would be looking carefully at issues such as the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill and the proposed ban on stag hunting to see how they affected his constituents.

“ I also have issues with the Planning Bill. It’s as if to say all of us involved in local government are gangsters. I served on a council for 15 years and I never felt I did anything wrong,” said Mr Aylward.

“The tail is not going to wag the dog and Mr Gormley can think again if he expects us to accept some of the things he is proposing,” said the TD.

Mr Gormley concluded his keynote address to his party’s annual convention in Waterford on Saturday night by making a reference to the thousands of rural dwellers who had protested outside the conference centre earlier in the day against the proposed ban on stag hunting and other animal rights measures.

“The protests outside today confirm only one thing: that we are making a difference in Government. And those on horseback and on the soap boxes should know this: your actions serve only to make us more determined than ever to make the changes that are needed,” he said.

The Minister for the Environment also defended the Planning Bill and limitations it will put on the power of local authorities.

Another Kilkenny TD, John McGuinness, said yesterday he would challenge the leadership of Taoiseach Brian Cowen directly at the weekly meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party tomorrow night.

“A new style of politics is needed. We need an energetic, dynamic party leader who will communicate effectively with the public and restore their confidence in the whole process of politics and the policies we are pursuing,” he said.

The party meeting is scheduled for 5.30pm but this is likely to clash with the major announcement on a rescue plan for the banks by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan at 6pm. Taoiseach to face leadership challenge: page 7; Green Party conference reports: pages 8 and 9; Reshuffle has buoyed spirits of Green grassroots: page 14; Editorial comment: page 15

Mar
29

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/thousands-at-prohunting-protest-14745468.html

Rural Ireland Says Enough - Thousands at pro-hunting protest

Rural Ireland Says Enough - Thousands at pro-hunting protest

Saturday, 27 March 2010
Pro hunt supporters from the lobby group RISE (Rural Ireland Says Enough) hold a protest outside the Green Party Convention at the Tower Hotel in Waterford

Pro hunt supporters from the lobby group RISE (Rural Ireland Says Enough) hold a protest outside the Green Party Convention at the Tower Hotel in Waterford

Up to 5,000 people attended a pro-hunting demonstration at the Green Party’s conference in Waterford.

Organisers from the Rural Ireland Says Enough (RISE) campaign claimed the Government was discriminating against country sports and warned it risked losing country seats in the next elections.

A spokesman said: “The Green Party have got their priorities totally wrong during a time of economic and unemployment crisis. Those are the priorities they should be focusing on and not something like hunting.”

The demonstration was led by three riders from Waterford and three from the Ward Union Hunt in Meath and Dublin, which they claimed Green Party Environment Minister John Gormley wants to ban.

The spokesman said the Government would also be targeting gun clubs.

“Fianna Fail TDs need to realise what is being done in their name is a major attack on the lifestyle of the ordinary people in the countryside. They are trying to pick off our traditional sports one after another,” he added.

There were groups from across Ireland in Waterford championing deer, stag, hare and fox hunting. Some waved banners proclaiming “John Gormless” and shouting similar taunts.

RISE claims to represent 300,000 rural field sports enthusiasts. It has been calling for amendments to the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill, opposes Minister Gormley’s plan to ban the Ward Union Stag hunt and is concerned about the implications for farmers and sportsmen of the proposed Animal Health and Welfare Bill.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/thousands-at-prohunting-protest-14745468.html#ixzz0jb7RGo5x

Mar
29

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/26/ireland-greens-stag-hunt
Ireland’s Green party is attempting to ban the country’s only stag hunt, triggering an animal rights row with rural communities, the traditional supporters of its coalition partners in the Dublin government.

Hunt supporters will gather later tomorrow to vent their wrath outside the Greens’ annual conference in Waterford, opening a political rift that could add to pressures on the coalition with Fianna Fáil.

Those defending the 150-year-old Ward Union stag hunt, which operates in north County Dublin and County Meath, claim the proposed ban is the thin end of a legislative wedge that will undermine Ireland’s entire hunting community and damage its lucrative horse racing industry.

A coalition of hunts and field sports organisations known as RISE (Rural Ireland Says Enough) has already mobilised thousands of supporters at rallies where leading Irish jockeys have voiced their opposition to the proposed ban.

The champion rider Ruby Walsh warned that a ban could lead to other rural pursuits such as fox hunting, shooting, angling and point-to-point, being outlawed. “This is a bigger issue than stag hunting and has to be stopped before it gathers momentum,” he said. “Hunting is the best way to learn to ride at a competitive level and every national hunt jockey would have hunted.”

The Green party, which recently lost one of its ministers in a political scandal, is in favour of outlawing all bloodsports. Its coalition partner, Fianna Fáil, however, is strongest in the rural constituencies.

The Dublin government, as a whole, has seen its popularity plunge as it cuts wages and services in an attempt to tackle Ireland’s massive debts.

The deal reached between the two parties on hunting is a compromise that opponents claim is motivated by the need to prevent the Greens deserting the coalition. The precise terms of the ban are due to be published shortly but fox hunting will be unaffected.

“We will be introducing legislation to end the Ward Union hunt,” a Green party spokeswoman said today . “Our policy is to ban all bloodsports, but under the agreement with our coalition partners we have decided to ban stag hunting.”

In past decades, hunting in Ireland was characterised as a hangover of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy. The Ward Union staghounds was founded in 1854; many early members were English army officers garrisoned outside Dublin.

The hunt now has about 150 to 200 followers and is technically a carted stag hunt: the organisation selects one deer from its Irish red deer herd kept at Greenpark, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, and that animal is then transported to the field to be chased by hounds and riders. The hunt insists that the “purpose of the pursuit is not to kill the deer”. If the deer is brought to bay it is “repatriated” with the herd, the hunt’s website says.

Oliver Russel, an engineer by profession, a hunt member and former chairman of the Ward Union, said: “People are incensed at what appears to be a pure attack on rural pursuits. The government is picking on a single hunt. We are an easy target. We are local farmers, builders, postmen. Soon they will try and get rid of all hunting, fishing and shooting.”

Liam Cahill, of RISE, who is helping organise the protest in Waterford, added: “At least 50 deer a year get killed by motorists in Phoenix Park [in central Dublin]. This is an onslaught on a rural way of life.”

But the Irish Council Against Blood Sports says chased deer have died of exhaustion, and at least one harried stag leaped into a village school playground as children were leaving class.

In its submissions the Irish Council against Blood Sports has said: “Deer suffer greatly by being pursued by dogs across countryside for what could be up to three hours or more.

“We have received accounts of stags being seen running down public roads and even through a Co Meath village in an extremely distressed condition, foaming at the mouth and some with obvious injuries and bleeding. One woman told us of a stag which ran headlong into a gate and had its neck broken.”

Mar
29

MICHAEL PARSONS

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0224/1224265092026.html

GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley has defended the planned legislation to ban stag hunting which he said was necessary in “an increasingly urbanised environment”.

In a statement to The Irish Times last night, he noted: “The Green Party does not shy away from the realities of rural living. Deer need to be culled when numbers are out of control and when damage is being done to trees or farmers’ crops. For this we rely on expert advice from the Parks and Wildlife Service.”

But he added: “The issue of stag hunting steps outside the simple issue of animal cruelty. It is one of safety in an increasingly urbanised environment.”

The ban is one of a number of animal welfare measures which were included in the renewed programme for government.

The pro-hunting group Rise! (Rural Ireland Says Enough!) claims that a ban on stag hunting is “the thin end of the wedge” and that “a ban on all field sports is part of Green Party policy and will follow when the timing suits them”. Mr Gormley said he was well aware of the importance of rural pursuits such as shooting and fishing which were “enjoyed by many Irish people”. He said there was no move to stop such country pursuits in the lifetime of this Government.

Green Party deputy leader Mary White and spokeswoman on rural affairs and hunting-related issues said the ban on stag hunting “is going to happen”.

She claimed the legislation was “vital in modernising the animal welfare protections in this country” and to halt “some cruel practices against animals”.

Fine Gael has said it will vote against the proposed ban on stag hunting and will repeal it if the party forms the next government.

A spokesman for the Labour Party said it had “not yet taken any formal decision” on how it would vote on the issue.

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29
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29
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28

27th March 2010

Six horses and 5,000 people support hunting in Waterford today

Not since the famous racehorse ‘The Wild Man from Borneo’ was brought along the Quays in Waterford to celebrate winning the Aintree Grand National in 1895 has a horse paraded along the city’s streets.

That changed today as three riders from the Woodstown Harriers (county Waterford) and three from the Ward Union Hunt (counties Meath and Dublin) led a march of 5,000 pro-hunting supporters to protest outside the Green Party convention.

Among the riders was Johnny Widger, whose ancestor, Tom Widger, bred the ‘Wild Man’. He was joined by Stephen Farrell and Eamon Kent from the Harriers and by Pat Coyle, Darren Campbell and Megan Carberry from the Ward Union.

The demonstration was organised by the RISE! Rural Ireland Says Enough! campaign. RISE! was formed jointly last January by the Hunting Association of Ireland and FACE Ireland to promote and defend traditional rural sports from imminent Green legislative threats. Between them, the sixteen supporting organisations represent an estimated 300,000 enthusiasts of traditional rural field sports.

The marchers heard speeches from Jim Murphy (Cork), Eddie Downey (Vice President of IFA), Gavin Duffy (Meath) and Dónal Boyle (Tipperary). The MC on the platform was Tommie Hennessy, Master of the Déise Harriers in East Waterford. He told the marchers: ‘More than three centuries ago, a man named Oliver Cromwell came to this city and tried and failed to capture it. You might remember that he was the man who gave us the choice of ‘To Hell or to Connacht!’ Well, today this demo has a similar message to the Greens who have invaded our city. This time we are saying ‘To Hell with John Gormley!’ And to Hell with his Green Party pals and their anti-hunting hangers on!

We stand here today united, to promote and defend our traditional rural based pastimes, the pastimes that the people of our cities, towns, villages and farms have enjoyed for more than a thousand years. We are hunters on foot and on horseback. We are hunters with guns and with fishing rods. All of us are under threat from the Green Party fanatics. Today, the immediate threat of banning is to the Ward Union Hunt. Tomorrow, if they get away with that, it will be someone else will be their target. Until, eventually, no sport will be left for any of us.’

RISE! has called for amendments to the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill, currently before the Seanad, to make it a truly anti-puppy farming piece of legislation. It is opposed to John Gormley’s proposal to ban the Ward Union Stag hunt and it is concerned about the implications for farmers and sports people of the proposed Animal Health and Welfare Bill.

Since its foundation, RISE! has been lobbying TD, Senators and Councillors in support of its aims. The campaign has received strong support from jockeys, trainers, and bookies because of the severe implications the proposed legislation will have on horse racing and greyhound racing. The campaign has also been raising a national petition to underline the widespread support for its aims.